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By the next day, the entire school knows that Jungkook and I are dating. All of a sudden, I find myself flung into the world of the 1% of Brookhaven High; the world of the popular and the rich and the athletically inclined. “You can’t just act like the loner you are anymore,” Jungkook says. “You need to act like my girlfriend.”

    “I hate you,” I grumble.

    “It’s either this or you going to jail for starting the explosion.”

    “Good point.”

    I’m supposed to go to basketball games to “cheer on” Jungkook and his stupid friends now. I can’t even sneak my Calculus textbook inside, since I’m surrounded by other thickheaded morons who are rabidly supporting the Brookhaven Lions. If I look like I don’t care about the game (which I don’t), they’ll kill me.

And yesterday, Jungkook made plans for the both of us to attend some silly party at Emma’s house.

I had to put my foot down for that. There’s no way I would voluntarily step into Satan’s hellhole.

    It’s not like all of these preps are bad, though. Christina Valdez, the star goalie of the Brookhaven girls’ soccer team, is actually a really cool person. We had a lengthy conversation about the stupidest TV shows we’d ever seen in our lives. Her soccer team friends, including Tanisha Erikson and Sherry Gupta, piped in with particularly ridiculous episodes of “America’s Next Top Model” and “Dance Moms”, and soon we had all made plans to get froyo the next day.

    There’s one thing that I have refused to stop, no matter how much crap Jungkook gives me about it. Every afternoon, I regularly attend meetings of the “Anime Club”.

    The Friday after my relationship with Jungkook is exposed, I hurry into B391, where Lina, Preet, Annabelle, and Marcus are waiting for me. An episode of Sword Art Online is playing on a computer near the door, in case someone comes in and wonders why the Anime Club isn’t watching anime.

    “Hey, Ami,” Annabelle smiles when she sees me. “Want a cookie? I baked them last night. How was your day?”

    “Annoying. Dealing with Jungkook every day balls, but socializing with his friends on top of that is even worse. Oh, and Emma keeps making these catty comments,” I grouse, popping a cookie in my mouth. “Whoa, Annabelle, these are really good.”

    “Any news about the test?” Lina asks tersely.

    I shake my head. “I feel like this is part of the test. Seeing how well I integrate with Jungkook, Jimin, Hoseok, Jin, Namjoon, Yoongi, and Taehyung is one part of the evaluation. I think.”

    “Hey, do you think you could get Sherry Gupta’s digits for me?” Preet asks. When I throw him a scathing look, he exclaims, “What? She’s hot! And she has a great GPA, too. We could study together-,”

    “Anyway, I don’t really have anything else to talk about.” I sigh. “I haven’t been able to get a word out of Jungkook about the 4 Flames.”

    “That’s alright.” Marcus nods at me, which somehow does more to reassure me than anything else has. “Just remember, Ami: we have your back.”

    I smile. “Thanks, Marcus.”

    Jungkook texts me later that night.

    Get ready. I’m picking you up in an hour. Wear something nice.

    My eyes widen. I quickly text the Anime Club group chat: My test is today.

    Immediately, Preet texts back. I’ll be on standby. If you don’t know how to do something tell me. I’ll do it for you.

    This is a solo test, doofus, I text back, but thanks.

    Good luck, Preet says. You’re not an idiot. You’ll do fine.

    Wow. That’s the closest thing to a compliment that Preet has ever given me.

    I hurriedly pull on the best outfit I have- a black crop top and a short red skirt, coupled with small high-heels- and slap some makeup on my face. Hm. Now that I have time to get ready, I actually look pretty nice.

    As if on cue, my phone buzzes with a new text from Jungkook. I’m outside.

    I take a deep breath. Okay. You got this, Ami. You can ace whatever they throw at you.

    After steeling myself, I step outside. Jungkook is sitting in a sleek silver Aston Martin outside my condo, sporting a fitted polo shirt and perfectly mussed hair. Despite myself, my heart skips a beat. He’s so attractive.

God, I hate him.

When he sees me making my way to his car, he an eyebrow.

    “What are you staring at?” I snap.

    “And you ruined the effect,” he says. We ride in absolute silence. My hands are nervously fidgeting with the bottom of my skirt. I feel like my heart is going to burst from anxiety.

    “You look pretty,” Jungkook finally says. I give him a look.

    “Really? That’s all you can say?”

    “What?” he protests. “What else do you want me to say?”

    “Maybe tell me something about what this test is going to be about? Any hints?”

    A bemused look crosses Jungkook’s face. “What? What test?”

    “Aren’t you going to give me the test today?” I ask agitatedly. “The one that determines if I join the 4 Flames or not?”

    “Uh, no. I’m taking you to Taehyung’s house. He's having a party.”

    “What?! I don’t want to go!”

What the hell? I got all worried over this?

“You have to come.” Jungkook tightens his grip on the steering wheel. “People are already starting to question if we’re actually a couple or not. If they found out that we lied to the police, then we’re screwed.”

“Does it matter?” I growl. “It’s not like you’re going to get in trouble.”

“Yeah, but you will.”

“It’s not fair,” I mutter. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”

“You did ask for this when you hacked into the damn website!” he shouts. His expression is a combination of fury, frustration, and... something else that I can’t identify. “Christ, Ami, why do you do things without understanding the consequences of your actions first? You just jump headfirst into things with no regard for whether you should be doing it or not. Why,” he says in a low voice, “did you have to get yourself involved in this?”

. “Oh, so it’s my fault that I discovered the illegal gang you were a part of?” I retort. “You’re the one at fault here! And who are you to be lecturing me about consequences? You don’t have any consequences! You can literally do whatever you want, thanks to your parents’ money!”

“I have consequences,” he growls. “You couldn’t even dream of how severe my consequences are. And now, your consequences will be just as bad.”

Jungkook brakes in front of a large, Victorian-style mansion. The sound of thumping music is audible from outside the house, and I can see several teenagers in sleek party dresses and stylish slacks milling around the door.

I cross my arms, not budging from my seat. “You make no sense! God, I don’t even know what I’m doing! You keep saying that you’re going to give a test. Where’s the damn test?”

“Just shut up!”  

His chest is heaving. Suddenly, I realize how close he is to me: so close that I can feel his warm breath on my skin. His eyes widen- he’s probably noticed the lack of distance between us, too- and we both jerk away from each other.

“Let’s go,” Jungkook mutters. I grumpily throw the car door open and place my hand in Jungkook’s.

“Hey, glad you two could make it,” Taehyung grins, slapping Jungkook on the back. He eyes me cautiously, but still offers me a smile. “There’s food over there. Jungkook, we’re playing flag football in the backyard! Come on!”

Without another glance at me, Jungkook stalks off behind Taehyung. After an extensive search, I discover that neither Christina, Tanisha, nor Sherry are at the party. Dammit. I plop down on the sofa and pull out my phone.

Ami: False alarm. The test isn’t tonight. Just some stupid party.

Preet: Oh. Well, that’s alright.

Annabelle: Good! Now you have more time to prepare :)

Lina: ugh the wait is killing me

Ami: yeah no kidding... god, this is so stupid. i wanna go home.

Suddenly,  someone behind me says, "You don't look like you're having much fun."

I turn around. Namjoon is hovering over the couch, a faint smirk playing on his lips.

I frown. "What are you doing inside? I thought you guys were playing flag football."

"I came inside to take a break." He takes an uninvited seat next to me and hands me a glass of punch. "I've never been one for parties, to be honest."

"Same."

Neither of us says anything for a while; we merely sip our drinks in silence. Then, I say, "How long have you been in the 4 Flames?"

Namjoon grimaces at the mention of the gang. "Don't say it so loudly when there are others around," he mutters.

"Sorry."

"We've been in it our entire lives. Our parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins are all part of the gang, too."

My eyebrows shoot up. "Wow. Have you ever killed anyone?"

Namjoon shoots me a look. "What kind of question is that?"

"I just want to know."

He stares into his glass, a cloudy expression on his face. "I've never killed anyone," he says darkly.

"Really."

"Really. But killing someone isn't the worst thing you can do to them." An involuntary shudder runs through his body. I am about to question him further, but Namjoon says, "Your boyfriend has killed plenty, though."

I swallow. "No way."

"Of course. He's the prodigy child of the 4 Flames. I may be the leader of BTS-,"

"BTS?"

"That's the name of the 7-member group that me, Jungkook, and the rest of us operate in. Anyway, there's no doubt that Jungkook is the most skilled of all of us." Namjoon pauses uneasily. "But it comes with consequences. Our superiors put him to work almost immediately. His first kill was at age 11."       

I feel nauseated. "11? How- how can he keep doing this?"

Namjoon looks even more uncomfortable. "Well... a few years ago... he ran into a problem-,"

"Are you two done talking about me?" someone behind us asks icily.

I jump up in shock. Jungkook is standing behind us. On first sight, his expression is calm... but his eyes are raging with fury. For the first time ever, I feel geniunely threatened by Jungkook. Even when he had a gun in my face, it seemed utterly surreal.

But now that I know who he really is- and what he's done...

I force myself to put on a mask of apathy and slight irritation. "Can I go home now? The punch is gross and the music is too loud."

Jungkook scowls. "We've only been here for an hour!"

"An hour too long!" I huff. "I'm hungry, too! And I'm trying to learn how to code Python, and NBC is showing reruns of 'Parks and Recreation'-,"

"Alright, alright!" Jungkook rolls his eyes. "Come on, let's go."

I don't miss the unreadable look Jungkook sends Namjoon.

"Bye, Namjoon," I say as calmly as I can. "Thanks for keeping me company."

Namjoon nods, but I can see the worry in his expression. "Take care."